1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic devices, and more specifically, it relates to an electronic device and a method for operating the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices, such as printers, scanners, copiers, multiplexers, and repeaters are usually tested for various purposes such as debugging, removing field failure, checking stability, and so forth. Testing of an electronic device may be performed by providing inputs to various components of the electronic device through external interfaces, such as ports and pins, and comparing the outputs received from the corresponding components with the desired outputs. During the testing phase, the components of the electronic device may be accessed through the external interfaces. This may expose the electronic device to the risk of being attacked by external entities, such as hackers. This may enable unauthorized users to access sensitive information stored in a memory of the electronic device, and may result in alteration of the sensitive information stored in the memory. These unauthorized users may monitor the components and features of the electronic device and may accordingly modify the functional and operational parameters of the electronic device. The monitoring of the components and features may also enable unauthorized users to reverse engineer the electronic device. Therefore, the electronic device needs to be secured once it is in production.
Various techniques are available for protecting the electronic device from attacks by external entities. In one of the techniques, fuses in the electronic device may be used to prevent access to sensitive information and internal control of the electronics device. In this technique, upon completion of the testing phase, the fuses may be blown to permanently disable external interfaces not used during normal operation. However, once the fuses are blown, the external interfaces cannot be used to access the electronic device. In another technique, bits, such as write-once bits, that can be written only once per power cycle may be used to prevent the access of the components of the electronic device. In a yet another technique, board modifications may be performed for enabling and disabling the electronic device. As can be seen, board modifications may require an unreasonable amount of time and expense to undertake.